SandPaper | SummerGazette.com

Sunscreen is most effective when applied thickly, thoroughly and frequently.

While sunscreens can protect against burning when properly applied, many fail to filter skin-damaging rays and may even hasten the development of skin cancer

This summer marks the first sunscreen season governed by rules put into effect last December by the federal Food and Drug Administration. The regulations require truth in sunscreen marketing and, for the first time, require that claims of water resistance and broad spectrum sun protection be validated.

Despite the FDA’s actions, a review of the sunscreen market conducted by Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental research and advocacy organization, indicates that only minimal improvements in products on the shelves for the summer of 2013. Many sunscreens available on the United States market fail to filter skin-damaging rays safely and effectively, according to EWG.

Yolo Sol Sun Protective Store in Ocean City offers a variety of clothing and hats for men and women, along with hats for children.

While reports appear to indicate that skin cancer is on the rise, especially in teens and people in their 20s, there are alternatives for protection other than slathering sunscreen on every inch of skin or hiding indoors all summer.

Sun-protective clothing – while not a new concept – is one option available for avoiding the risk of the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays, and this year there seem to be more options than ever.

Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets, along with Jerry Spathis and his Rockabilly Band, will perform 7:30 p.m. July 1 at Cape May Convention Hall.

Spathis and his Rockabilly Band will open the concert with songs in tribute to Elvis, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Fats Domino and Ricky Nelson. After that, Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets will perform their Rock ‘N’ Roll History Show, which combines various hits throughout rock ’n’ roll history.

In the never-ending battle against invasive plant species in South Jersey, the statewide environmental group is partnering with the Cape Island Habitat Restoration Task Force to attack invasive plants on a five-acre tract off Sea Grove Avenue in Cape May Point. Organizers said they need volunteers.

“Our last volunteer event, in April, we had six people,” said Kristen Meistrell, stewardship technician for the New Jersey Audubon locally. “And that was great. This is an ongoing battle, so we always need help. We get all types, from college students to senior citizens.

“We like people to register so we know they are coming, but anyone willing and able can show up – we’ll have work gloves and hand pruners for you,” she said, noting that the April event was targeted at garlic mustard.

Most surfers still have their full suits on, although hoods and gloves are starting to come off. But when the water warms up, the waves often cool down.

Well, the air has finally warmed up, but the water is still pretty cold.

Wetsuits remain “de rigueur” if you are planning on staying in for more than a couple of minutes.

On a recent morning session, a little after dawn, I was rethinking going without gloves as I paddled out with rapidly numbing hands. I probably could have skipped the hood, though, because the occasional nice knee-high sets allowed me to pretty much keep my head above water.

Repair small dead and bare patches as needed using a lawn patch kit, grass seed and mulch. For small spots, loosen the soil surface, sprinkle with grass seed and lightly rake.

The extreme heat and drought of 2012 was hard on lawns and gardens, and as a result, this year many gardeners are facing a blank slate of bare soil – masses of dead patches that were once lawn or a bit of grass interspersed in a sea of weeds.

Proper maintenance and a bit of cooperation from nature can help transform a damaged lawn from being an eyesore to an asset in the landscape. Here are some tips for improving the lawn this season.

Start this spring to renovate or improve your weather-worn lawn. Water is critical to get newly seeded and sodded lawns to survive, so be prepared to help nature along with the recovery effort.

The John Creidler Trio will open the Wildwood Crest Summer Music Series Wednesday, June 26.

The weekly Wildwood Crest Summer Music Series will begin June 26 and feature live music every Wednesday and Saturday through Labor Day weekend at CentennialPark at Fern Road and Ocean Avenue in Wildwood Crest.

The concerts are suitable for all ages, and admission is free. Attendees are advised to bring a blanket or a chair.

Lessons in French by Hilary Rehl, Simon & Schuster. This delicious first novel put me in mind of Rumer Godden’s classic “The Greengage Summer,” which centers on a family of English children stranded at a French pensione. Rehl does not have Godden’s eccentric style, but she has the same startling way with words and a wondrous ability to drop you headlong into a fully formed story and make you want to linger indefinitely. Our heroine is Kate, a talented, insecure and class-conscious young painter and Yale grad who takes a job in Paris in 1989. Soon Kate is snared in the intrigues of Lydia, a famous, controlling American photographer about to chronicle the fall of the Berlin Wall; Lydia’s professor husband, Clarence; their children, long-suffering Portia and slacker Josh; charming Olivier; mercurial Claudia; Kate’s cousin Etienne; and a host of others equally complex and compelling. As Kate instinctively tries to bond with and please everyone, she is confronted time and again with moral compromise and a private legacy of loss. “Lessons in French” is filled with surprising twists and will reward those who accompany Kate to the end.

Anglers who were looking forward to getting out on the water to fish last weekend were disappointed by the 25- to 30-mph winds. Many charter boats canceled their trips; even the Cape May-Lewes Ferry had to cancel its runs last Saturday due to rough seas. The tides were also not in anglers' favor, and low tide was extremely low due to the high winds

At least warmer weather is on deck for this weekend. Reports should be plentiful. There are plentiful of keeper flounder to be had, and this is surely the time of year to catch them.

I'll be honest. I was never a fan of the “Hangover” films. The franchise is filled with frat-boy humor and zaniness substituting for actual humor. The conceit of the first film was at least original, and Zach Galifianakis, a brilliant comedic mind and performer, elevated the movie far beyond what it could have been. The second film basically was a carbon copy of the first, so I was surprised and delighted to learn that the third outing would ditch the "hangover" premise in exchange for another adventure with these characters. Even though the latest movie retreads similar ground, it works.

For one thing, there is more of a plot to “The Hangover Part III” than the first two. In fact, the story plays out more like a dark thriller than the traditional comedy, and this plot actually leads somewhere.

I, Rhoda by Valerie Harper, Gallery Books. This sprightly show-biz memoir might have come and gone without much fanfare but for Harper’s announcement in March that she has terminal brain cancer. Though this book was published before that diagnosis, the actress does chronicle a bout with cancer – lung cancer, the deadliest form – a battle she thought she had won in 2009. Now that the disease has recurred, she has won the admiration of the world for her tenacity and determined cheerfulness. “I, Rhoda” gives a hint why. Harper, who started out as a dancer on Broadway, endured trials and tribulations, occasional successes and many rejections before hitting it big as Rhoda Morgenstern, the Bronx-bred comic foil to Mary Richards in TV’s “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Without dishing, Harper shares great backstage stories about Lucille Ball (with whom she worked in the musical “Wildcat”), as well as the legendary cast of the MTM Show, including Betty White, Cloris Leachman and Edward Asner. The ever-optimistic Harper also shows her philanthropic side and details her fight for equality on many fronts with verve and without preachiness.

Dennis and Bud Marquis of Pennsylvania keep a good number of the blues they caught for a group they had coming for dinner. The fish were caught with the help of Capt. Ray Szulczewski of the Tide Runner out of Cape May.

While Memorial Day marks a time of solemn reflection for the lives lost in service to our country, it is also a weekend that celebrates the unofficial start to another summer at the shore. What better way to celebrate it than fishing, a pastime enjoyed by anglers of all ages. Now that we are a week into flounder season, there have been reports of some doormat-sized fish being caught. This season, anglers are permitted five flounder at 17.5 inches. The season will run until Sept. 16.